Faith in Focus

A news item caught my eye not long ago: the minor seminary in Chicago was closing after 102 years, and all the alumni had been invited to see the place one last time before it was to be renovated as a pastoral center. I had attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary for only one year, my freshman year in

Everyone seems interested these days in defining Catholic identity—movements and Movements, R.C.I.A. and Neocatechumenate, liturgists and “religious” educators, curial vigilantes and the rear-guard of “social actionists.” No one wonders how the Catholic laity define the

Seven years have passed since Israeli and Palestinian officials last sat around a negotiating table to discuss the core political issues that divide them. According to the Declaration of Principles signed between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization in 1993, five permanent status issue

Jerusalem means different things to different people. It is a religious symbol for Christians, Muslims and Jews; it is a national symbol for Palestinians and Israelis; it is a depository of cultural and historical heritage for humanity; and it is a real living city for its residents. As Jerusalem ev

I used to be a soccer mom, minivan and all. But this morning I had to roll down the windows on my 14-year-old jeep to get all the mosquitoes out that had festered there from the night before. I used to like to grill out on nice summer nights. I havent grilled out for the last two years, out of respe

To be pastor for a typical Catholic parish these days is to attempt the impossible, for the pastor’s role has grown too large. It includes pastoral duties (preaching, counseling, presiding at liturgies, administrating sacraments, visiting parishioners), managing human resources (staff directio

As my spiritual directee described what she called “a meltdown” in talking with her husband, she sighed, “I just don’t care anymore.” Things were not going well at the parish where she is on staff. She was fatigued; her husband was not recovering well from an injury; sh

Witnessing the slow death of a people